Sellafield Ltd employees have chosen Mind West Cumbria as the company’s charity of the year for 2019.
Workers at the nuclear site voted for the mental health charity in a recent poll, which would decide where their fundraising efforts will be directed for this year.
Fundraising activities will start with the auction of artwork produced for the Art of Reprocessing exhibition at the Beacon Museum, Whitehaven on Friday 15 March.
Local, regional, national and international artists were commissioned to produce artwork inspired by the life of Sellafield’s Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (Thorp). The plant sheared its last batch of used nuclear fuel in November last year and the artwork has been on display in the museum ever since.
Head of Community Relations, Gary McKeating, said:
Mind West Cumbria provides a life changing service to people in our area who need practical help and someone to listen.
Our employees at Sellafield raised over £22,000 for the Great North Air Ambulance in 2018 so I am excited to see how much we can raise for Mind.
Almost 6,000 people have been to see the Art of Reprocessing exhibition so we know that there is a real interest in the artwork. There are so many different pieces in different styles that there really is something for everyone, and what better way to mark the end of the exhibition than by raising money for such a great charity.
Dr Brian Campbell from Mind West Cumbria said:
We are delighted to have been chosen, especially because it is the people who work on the site who voted for us.
Every year we help hundreds of people here in West Cumbria, from Silloth and Wigton right down to Seascale and Gosforth, and everywhere in between.
We provide counselling and work with families and for many people suffering mental illness we are the first port of call.
They’re all different, and they all have their own stories. Mental illness does not discriminate and can affect anyone at any time. We rely completely on fundraising and volunteers and the money raised by Sellafield Ltd employees will make a huge difference to us.
The Art of Reprocessing exhibition is still open to the public – it closes the day of the sale on March 15th – so there is still time to go along and see the artwork before it is auctioned.
The evening will start at 1800 and will see 18 pieces auctioned. Tickets for the auction are free and available via Eventbrite. For more information and to view the artwork, visit the Beacon Museum website
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